For Ron's birthday we dined at "The Olde Pink House" built in 1771. It is a National Landmark and was built for James Habersham Jr., a wealthy planter who held many secret meetings there which helped to secure the independence of the 13 colonies from England. The name comes from the soft native brick which bled through the plastered walls and mysteriously changed the color from white to Jamaican Pink. The building at one time was the first bank of Georgia and housed the monies of all the colonists. Still in operation today the massive cast-iron vaults with dungeon like doors are used as wine cellars. It once housed military generals and was established as the headquarters during the war. After many other establishments, in 1992 the house became a restaurant with 11 dining rooms graced with beautiful antique furnishings. The atmosphere is very quaint & quiet, the food is exceptional as was the service.
When Savannah was founded in 1773, it was laid out in a town grid dotted with small squares designed to deter invaders. Today, even after the turmoil of the Revolution and Civil war, the design remains intact, with the squares now serving as scenic parks filled with statues and fountains.
One of the many squares.
Hugh oak trees graced with Spanish moss. Which really isn't moss but is an epiphyte which absorbs nutrients (especially calcium) and water from the air and rainfall.
You can smell the sweet aroma of gardenia's has you stroll the square.
Chippewa Square where Forest Gump sitting on the park bench was filmed.
Savannah is home to SCAD - the Savannah College of Arts and Design - with over 9,000 students. What a perfect spot with all of the city's' history and architectural uniqueness.
Such details
Downspouts
Turn of the century houses. Still beautifully restored.
Ornate fencing around homes facing many of the squares in the historic district.
This fence has portraits of poets such as Keats, Byron etc. In it's hay day
owners seemed to compete with the ornate designs of the iron-clad fences.
We attended Mass at St. John the Baptist Cathedral. The congregation of St. John the Baptist formed in the late eighteenth century when French immigrants fleeing revolutions in France & Haiti found refuge in Savannah.
Beautiful altar
Front of the Church.
Ornate steeple. The streets are so narrow I couldn't get a full
picture. Of course, maybe it would help if I would remember to
bring my wide angle lens with me.
During our visit we took a 9 pm Ghost Tour of a haunted house (supposedly) as well as the Pirate House, now a restaurant. The Pirate House was originally a bar, where pirates as infamous as Blackbeard socialized while in the area. Their secondary reason for using this location was to shanghai locals by using a 1/2 mile long tunnel carved under the bar leading to the river and their boats. Ron found this site and scenario fascinating.
We spent several hours touring the national landmark Fort Pulaski. In 1829 construction began on the fort, taking 18 years to complete, $1 million and 25,000,000 bricks. The walls were 15 feet thick with a 7 foot deep, 48 foot wide moat with the only entrance over a drawbridge. The fort was defended by 385 officers and men under the command of Charles H. Olmstead. There were a total of 48 guns of various size and type mounted around the full circumference of the fort. While Union soldiers prepared their placements under cover of dark, the Confederates rested easy, believing their position to be unbeatable.
What the Southern Soldiers didn't know was that Capt. Quincy A. Gillmore was about to unveil a new weapon which would change the face of warfare - the rifled cannon. Unlike conventional smooth-bored cannons, these guns contained spiraled (rifled) grooves which gave the projectile greater range, accuracy and penetration. Their effective range was 8453 yards, far exceeding the existing artillery. The 10 new experimental cannons, erected in secret by the North, were able to breach the walls of the fort within the first 30 hours of the bombardment. Rather than risk the death of his entire garrison, Olmstead chose to surrender. With the overtaking of this state of the art structure, forts of this style were never built again
Cannon fires 32# round ball.
Inside of the fort
Markings from cannon shots.
Greenwood planks positioned to deflect incoming shells from the enemy.
Also, channels were dug in the parade yard so that if any shells got
through they would roll away from the troops.
Original Confederate Flag flies at Fort Pulaski.
Did I mention we really enjoyed Savannah?
We left a few things we still would like to do for another visit.
Hope all is well.
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